Research behind the exercise
Active Questions: a small daily check-in Marshall Goldsmith, the executive coach and author who developed the six Active Questions, reported an online survey of people using them.
After ten days, 91% of 4,885 participants reported improvement in at least one of the six areas; 67% in at least four and 34% in all six.
What this means for Telos. The questions bring attention back to the effort you can make towards happiness, meaning, engagement, relationships and your goals. Begin by answering honestly; you do not need to promise a bigger life change.
Keep the finding in context. This was an uncontrolled, self-reported survey, not a Duke University controlled trial or a Telos success rate. The report also records 9% unchanged and 3% worse on at least one item. People can improve on one item and worsen on another. Telos’s “since I last scored myself” wording allows separate check-ins; this adaptation was not tested separately.
Study detail and statistics The results graphic also reports 0.06% worse on all six. These categories must not be added as if they were mutually exclusive.
Research behind the exercise
Recording progress can support progress Benjamin Harkin and colleagues brought together experimental research on monitoring progress towards goals.
Across 138 randomised studies involving 19,951 people, monitoring interventions improved goal attainment on average.
What this means for Telos. This is a reason to offer scores, graphs and history: they can help you see changes over time and decide what deserves your attention. A private note is optional, not another daily obligation.
Keep the finding in context. These studies monitored many kinds of goals. They did not test the Telos workbook or prove that an upward happiness-effort score means improved mental health. You do not need to share private answers to use Telos.
Study detail and statistics Average effect d = 0.40; 95% confidence interval 0.32–0.48. This is a standardised difference, not a 40% success rate.
Research behind the exercise
Reasons to Succeed: make the value personal James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente co-developed the Transtheoretical Model of change. Prochaska and colleagues studied how people weigh the benefits and drawbacks of changing.
Research across 12 behaviours found common patterns between readiness for change and the importance people attached to its pros and cons.
What this means for Telos. Reasons to Succeed explores what matters to you; Smash the Excuses explores the objections that pull the other way. Write two reasons at a sitting and build towards 100 personally meaningful reasons. That is Telos’s teaching target, not a research-proven threshold.
Keep the finding in context. The 12-behaviour findings were cross-sectional: they compared people at different stages. They do not prove that writing a particular number of reasons causes success.
Study detail and statistics Prochaska reported roughly one standard deviation higher perceived pros and half a standard deviation lower cons between precontemplation and action; the pattern was also examined in 1,466 smokers. This is not a 2:1 count of reasons. Related self-determination research across 65 randomised tests found a small average health-behaviour effect (d = 0.23); those programmes involved more than a reasons list.
Research behind the exercise
Smash the Excuses: find a more accurate response Thomas Webb, Eleanor Miles and Paschal Sheeran reviewed experimental work on emotion regulation. Peter Gollwitzer and Sheeran reviewed plans that link a situation to a chosen response.
A review of 306 experimental comparisons found that cognitive-change strategies altered emotional responses on average. Separately, a review of 94 tests found that specific if–then plans improved goal attainment.
What this means for Telos. Notice a recurring thought and prepare a truthful, useful reply: “If that excuse appears, then I will remind myself of this reason.” Start with two responses. Real obstacles deserve practical consideration, not dismissal.
Keep the finding in context. Changing an interpretation is not the same as pretending a difficulty is imaginary. These findings support related elements, not a measured success rate for the complete Telos exercise.
Study detail and statistics Cognitive-change strategies: d = 0.36. If–then planning: d = 0.65. Neither figure is a percentage of people who succeeded; the reviews measured different things and cannot rank the exercises.
Research behind the exercise
Submodalities: changing the image can change the feeling Psychologists Joshua Ian Davis, James Gross and Kevin Ochsner studied how changing an image’s apparent size and distance affects emotion.
Across three small studies, imagining unpleasant scenes shrinking and moving away generally reduced their emotional impact.
What this means for Telos. This supports the size-and-distance element of the Telos exercise: explore how an ordinary, manageable image feels when its apparent size and distance change.
Keep the finding in context. The research did not test every sensory adjustment or the full five-stage Telos sequence. These were laboratory studies of immediate responses, not evidence of lasting change or treatment of phobias.
Study detail and statistics The three studies analysed 18, 18 and 25 participants respectively. Size and distance changed together, so their separate effects were not established. Results varied by study and outcome.
Research behind the exercise
Emotion Download: emotional writing, not compulsory journalling James Pennebaker helped establish research on expressive writing. Lin Guo later reviewed randomised studies of its effects on depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.
Guo’s review of 31 randomised studies involving 4,012 healthy or subclinical participants found small average symptom reductions, with benefits emerging over time.
What this means for Telos. Emotion Download is optional focused writing about thoughts and feelings for 10–20 minutes. You might choose one session or a series such as three; this is Telos’s practical adaptation, not the protocol of every cited study. You do not need to keep a daily diary, write beautifully or show anyone what you wrote.
Keep the finding in context. Results vary by population, protocol and outcome; another review of 30 randomised studies found minor or absent overall health effects. This is not evidence that one session treats a condition or secures a desired outcome. Choose manageable material, stop if overwhelmed and seek appropriate support when needed.
Study detail and statistics Guo’s average effect was g = −0.12 (95% confidence interval −0.21 to −0.04); the minus sign means fewer symptoms, not a 12% improvement. In a separate study of 63 unemployed professionals, Spera, Buhrfeind and Pennebaker reported faster re-employment following emotional writing. That small study does not guarantee a job, and unverified group percentages are not used here.
Research behind the exercise
Sensory Affirmations: imagery and immediate feeling Emily Holmes and colleagues studied how imagining positive scenarios affects mood. The Telos Sensory Affirmations exercise uses an imagined-selves sequence.
Their experiment with 26 volunteers found a greater immediate increase in positive mood with imagery than with verbal processing of the same positive scenarios.
What this means for Telos. This related finding helps explain why Telos explores sensory imagery, rather than relying only on repeating encouraging words. Follow the course’s imagined-selves exercise and notice your own response without forcing it.
Keep the finding in context. The researchers did not test Telos’s multiple-selves sequence. Between-group mood differences were not significant after a ten-minute filler task. An immediate shift in feeling is not proof of lasting behaviour change, and no success percentage for the complete Telos exercise has been verified.
Study detail and statistics Imagery and verbal groups contained 13 participants each. This was a small laboratory experiment, not a course evaluation.
Research behind the exercise
Microgoals: one small action is the whole task Phillippa Lally and colleagues studied habit formation in everyday life. Peter Gollwitzer’s work on implementation intentions examines linking a situation to a response.
Lally’s study followed 96 volunteers practising a chosen behaviour in the same context for 12 weeks. Habit development varied widely. Separately, a review of 94 tests found that if–then plans improved goal attainment on average.
What this means for Telos. Choose one press-up from your knees, one squat, one sentence, one item put away or one verse read. Connect it to a recognisable cue. For the first couple of weeks, do only one and stop, even if you want to do more. Later, doing more is optional; one permanently remains a complete, successful fallback. This introductory rule is Telos’s teaching approach, not a research-tested prescription.
Keep the finding in context. These studies support consistent cues and repetition, not an isolated success rate for one tiny action. They do not show that one press-up automatically becomes a fitness routine or that everyone forms a habit in 21 or 66 days.
Study detail and statistics Lally’s modelled time to 95% of an individual automaticity plateau ranged from 18 to 254 days; this is not the time required to notice a first benefit. A 2024 review of 20 studies and 2,601 participants also found wide variation. If–then planning’s average effect was d = 0.65, not 65% success.
Research behind the exercise
Goal Setting: give your attention a direction Tracy Epton, Sinead Currie and Christopher Armitage reviewed experiments designed to examine the contribution of setting goals.
Their review of 141 papers, involving 16,523 participants, found that goal setting improved behaviour on average.
What this means for Telos. Start with one goal that matters to you. If you choose Goal Setting, explore its five parts: goals, milestones, direction, metrics and contracts with yourself. Link the goal to your reasons and countermeasures while keeping the microgoal deliberately tiny.
Keep the finding in context. The evidence does not show that handwriting a goal alone gives a particular chance of success. It is component research, not a trial of the complete Telos Goal Setting exercise.
Study detail and statistics The review included 384 effect sizes. Average effect d = 0.34; 95% confidence interval 0.28–0.41. This does not mean 34% of participants achieved their goals.
Research behind the exercise
Visualisation: imagine the future and prepare for obstacles Gabriele Oettingen developed mental contrasting: considering a desired future alongside a present obstacle. Peter Gollwitzer developed implementation intentions. Wang, Wang and Gai reviewed research combining these approaches.
Across 21 studies involving 15,907 participants, mental contrasting combined with if–then planning improved goal attainment on average.
What this means for Telos. A desired future can be paired with an honest look at what might get in the way and a simple response. This supports the obstacle-and-response elements of Telos Visualisation; it is not a demand to perform more tasks.
Keep the finding in context. These findings concern a combination of techniques, not positive fantasy alone or the complete Telos guided script. They do not establish that imagining an outcome makes it happen.
Study detail and statistics Average g = 0.336 (95% confidence interval 0.229–0.443); a publication-bias sensitivity adjustment reduced it to 0.242. In separate motor-imagery research, Ranganathan and colleagues studied 30 volunteers over 12 weeks: imagined contractions increased finger strength by 35% in the eight-person finger-imagery group. This was repeated motor training, not muscle growth or evidence that a brief life visualisation produces the same result.
Research behind the exercise
Prochaska and DiClemente: understand readiness for change James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente co-developed the Transtheoretical Model, which describes different stages in people’s relationship with change. Their programme research also involved Wayne Velicer and Joseph Rossi.
In a randomised study of 756 smokers, tailored interactive reports plus individualised manuals produced more than twice the abstinence results of standard self-help over 18 months.
What this means for Telos. The model offers a way to understand why someone may be exploring a change, beginning it or finding their way back after a setback. For Telos, this is a framework for meeting people where they are, not pressuring them to act before they choose to.
Keep the finding in context. The trial tested a specific smoking-support package, not questions alone or Telos. A Cochrane review of 41 trials found no clear extra benefit in direct comparisons of equivalent support with and without stage matching. There is no universal success percentage for the model.
Study detail and statistics A separate trial analysis involving 4,144 smokers reported 25.6% versus 19.7% abstinence at the 24-month assessment: a 5.9 percentage-point difference. This was 24-hour point-prevalence abstinence, not continuous abstinence for two years. The Cochrane review’s latest search was August 2010. These findings are research background, not a Telos smoking-treatment offer.
Research behind the exercise
Motivation: more than a shortage of willpower Piers Steel reviewed research on procrastination and its relationship with expectations, value, delay and impulsiveness.
His 2007 review synthesised 691 correlations. Task aversiveness, delay, self-efficacy and impulsiveness were among the important correlates of procrastination.
What this means for Telos. This helps explain the Telos combination of personally meaningful reasons, a manageable first step and ways to respond to recurring thoughts or distractions. It offers questions to explore, not a label for someone’s character.
Keep the finding in context. Correlations do not establish causation. The Motivation Equation is an explanatory framework, not a validated calculator of an individual’s success or evidence that the complete Telos programme has been tested.
Study detail and statistics This research concerns patterns across studies, not a required score or a diagnosis for a participant.